Over 500 supporters of Dera Sacha Sauda head on Friday blocked traffic near Verka Plant on Ferozepur road demanding arrest of the man behind posting objectionable pictures of their guru on Facebook.
The protest which began at 10am, continued till 5 pm. As a result, scores of commuters were stuck in jam for hours. Meanwhile, instead of taking any appropriate action, the police officials stood as mute spectators.
Dera followers said Dugri police had registered a case against Sukhmail Singh of Manewal village of Ludhiana for allegedly posting morphed images of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh on June 22, but had not arrested him till date.
They had also staged a protest outside the Dugri police station two days ago, and the police officers had assured them that they would arrest the accused soon, they claimed. But the police failed to arrest the accused, said Dharampal, the complainant in the case.
The police officers reached the spot and appealed to the agitators to lift the dharna. However, the protesters refused to end the protest till the accused was arrested.
{{/usCountry}}The police officers reached the spot and appealed to the agitators to lift the dharna. However, the protesters refused to end the protest till the accused was arrested.
{{/usCountry}}Later, deputy commissioner of police (DCP) Harsh Kumar Bansal assured the protesters that the police would arrest the accused in 24 hours. The protesters lifted the protest after his assurance around 5pm, saying that they would take next decision after 24 hours.
Meanwhile, some Hindu organisations also held a protest demanding the arrest of the person, who allegedly posted objectionable pictures of gods and goddesses on Facebook.
They blocked the traffic in front of police commissioner's office on Ferozepur road for around an hour.
Later, representatives of the organisations met police commissioner Paramjit Singh Gill and submitted a memorandum. Mahant Dinesh Puri, Hindu Morcha chief Varun Mehta, Citizen Council president Darshan Arora and Shiv Sena chief Rajiv Tandon said if the police did not arrest the accused within seven days, they would intensify their protest.